They still sell 'em here in GA in some sporting goods stores, although
I don't know the brand name. I confess I don't know jack about chemistry,
but I've always had a feeling that this stuff isn't good for fish you want
to keep longer than a day's fishing trip. I could be wrong.
A better alternative is the "breathable" bags (made by Kordon). Geoff
Kimber in AZ introduced me to them some months back, and I'm a fan for
life. As I understand it, the membrane of the bag is permeable to gases,
allowing C02 to pass out and 02 to pass in. But it only works in air. If
you float the bags when they arrive as you normally might, the fish will
die. Instead you do a series of water exchanges with water from the
destination tank before you net the fish out and put it in the tank. We
have had excellent results with this product, shipping 20+ fish at a time
(Priority mail) with very few fatalities. One of the advertised advantages
is that you don't have to add air to the bags before you seal them. This
helps keep the fish from getting sloshed around in transit. Check 'em out
if you haven't already.
Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
At 01:05 PM 6/1/00 EDT, you wrote:
>Hey guys, I know this may date me to some extent but does anyone remember
the
>large pills that used to be sold to put in bait buckets to keep minnows
>alive? If memory serves me they were about the size of the pills you put in
>your toilets tank to keep the water nice and blue. I'm not sure how they
>worked but my point is that with all the chemistry advancements in the last
>40 years or so surely there is a way to keep the water in a shipping bag
>fresh by way of adding something to the bag that would absorb CO2 and maybe
>NH3 and if we are real lucky slowly give off O2. What I am looking for is a
>pill about the size of an aspirin that would be good for one fish for
several
>days. Do any of you chemistry buffs out there know of any chemicals that
>might do at least one of these things? It would improve shipping success at
>least and maybe make some money for who ever can do it.
>
>
> Moon
>
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